Playing before breakfast

The very early morning sunshine through my bedroom window was unusual ('what is that golden orb in the sky?'), welcome and rather beautiful peeping through the tracery of the tree branches. My iPhone snap looked rather underwhelming compared to the real thing but some enhancement to it using iPhone apps, whilst not quite true to the reality, gives a pleasing image I think. I just love playing with photos before breakfast!

Winter view

When the trees are bare in winter it is much easier to appreciate the amazing views from the bottom of my daughter's garden. Looking east along the Calder Valley, you can just about see the town of Hebden Bridge nestled in the valley floor, beyond the foreground trees. (Best to click on the photo to make it a bit bigger.)

Witch hazel

Since she was intent on being a fairy, E seemed quite interested to learn that this shrub, with bright yellow flowers like little explosions, is called a Witch Hazel (Hamamelis). I wish now that I'd taken a macro shot of the flowers but, again, I was a little preoccupied with being granny... The bright colour is such a cheery sight in an end-of-winter garden. As I have said before, I am not a gardener but I do love exploring gardens. My family have lived in their new home since last July so each season that arrives is a 'first' for us all and it's wonderful to see the garden changing with the seasons.  Despite their two cats, it abounds in birdlife. I saw a beautiful male bullfinch, only the third I have ever seen in my life.

A fairy in the garden

Wings and a magic wand turn a little girl into a colourful garden fairy. The wand proved useful for poking at ice in the water butts and making star shapes in the snow.

We found some tracks in the snow that I think were made by a pheasant. E was quite interested to see where it had wandered around. The joy of an iPad and the internet meant we could then go inside and check out lots of pictures of similar snow tracks.

By Sunday morning most of the snow had melted away but it was still fun to explore - and surprisingly warm in the sunshine.

Snowdrops

The garden at my daughter's house is full of snowdrops at the moment.  Snowdrops in actual snow look very pretty, though I wasn't too pleased with any of my photos. I was hurrying a bit as I was also keeping an eye on our little four-year old, who was exploring with me. It's a sprawling, tangly garden, semi-wild in parts, with lots of hidden corners and plenty of adventures to be had. Paradise for those two little girls to grow up in...

Snow clouds

Apologies for the patchy postings at the moment. I don't seem to have much time for taking photos right now and the weather hasn't been exactly encouraging me to get out with my camera. I drove over the moor road to Hebden Bridge at the weekend to babysit, whilst my daughter and son-in-law had a well-deserved night out with friends. I was a bit anxious as we had a sudden snowfall on Friday and the higher Pennines were badly affected. I was worried the moor road might be treacherous but actually the road itself was clear. The expanse of ever-changing sky and light at the highest point of the drive always thrills me.

Forster's face

William Forster's statue (see yesterday's post) perhaps makes more sense when viewed from this angle, as one leaves the new Broadway shopping centre. The backdrop is the 1886 Grade II listed St Peter's House, a fine and majestic building that was at one time Bradford's main Post Office. Like the old Forster Square area in which it stands, the building has had many incarnations but thankfully has been spared from demolition (a fate that overtook many of the Victorian buildings in the vicinity in the 1950s and 60s). (See here for some history.)  It now houses Kala Sangam, a centre for arts, heritage and culture. Behind St Peter's House is the city's Cathedral and the area known as Little Germany.

Go there!

There are a myriad different ways I can get to work in my new/temporary office. I could drive... except that it would be one long frustrating sit in a traffic jam there and back. The most logical way is to get a bus - short walk to the bus stop, comfortable bus journey into the city and another medium walk at the other end. Well, I tried that and the comfortable journey is one long frustrating sit in a traffic jam, despite there being 'bus lanes' along part of the route. So I tried the least obvious option, medium walk to the rail station, rail journey into the city and a long walk at the other end - and that is by far the quickest.  Plus, I would rather be walking briskly and feeling healthy than sitting squashed and immobile on a bus.

Anyway, the long walk means I am traversing parts of Bradford that I don't normally see. My route skirts the back of the new Broadway shopping centre (see here) and I am amused to find this sight.

The statue is of William Forster, a Liberal MP and the architect of what is known as Forster's Education Act 1870 - an Act of Parliament that set out the framework for education for all children between the ages of 5 and 13 in England and Wales. ( I remember learning about it at school). He wasn't born in Yorkshire but moved north to work and eventually became the MP for Bradford. His statue has stood in Forster Square for as long as I can remember. It was removed into storage during the years that the Square was a 'big hole' whilst the shopping centre project was delayed, but to the Council's credit it has been restored and replaced in the area where it originally stood.  There has been some controversy over the way it has been positioned facing the shopping centre - and I do think it looks a little odd.  It could be the subject of a caption competition: 'Go shopping!' or maybe he is haranguing any naughty schoolchildren who are playing truant and hanging around the shops!

Peep bo!

Another shot taken when I was at the children's museum with my younger granddaughter.  I so wish I'd taken my DSLR with me. I snatched a few quick shots with my iPhone but they are not sharp enough to print from, I don't think. The light here was gorgeous and I think she looks so cute. Mind you, the girls are used to being photographed with phones whereas when I get my proper camera out they both go a little camera-shy (or act goofy!)

Desk with a view

My new desk faces a window and this (and my new header photo) is the view. Not bad. I'd call it a photographer's view...  Nicely framed, I like way the sun picks out the warm stone of that old mill against all the greys and blues, and the tracery of the bare trees that are a pleasing juxtaposition to all the straight lines. The window glass is tinted and that adds more coolness to the scene.

Wool city

Since we've moved to our temporary office, I am missing my lunchtime walks around the beautiful World Heritage Site on my doorstep. Nevertheless, I have taken advantage of some bright, sunny days and I'm enjoying exploring a part of the city of Bradford that I don't really know. At one time, clearly, it was an area of textile mills and Victorian terraced housing like most of the city was between 50 and 150 years ago. Many of the old stone-built mills and most of the houses have been cleared from the area that borders the city centre to the south.  My new office is in the middle of a mixed industrial estate, full of modern prefab units with some older buildings in amongst. I was quite surprised to see that one of the remaining mills is apparently still operating as a woollen mill. I didn't realise there were any left! These bundles of wool lying in the yard evoke a certain nostalgia for the city's heyday. (I decided they deserved the vintage treatment.) Apart from the forklift truck shifting the bales, it's a scene that has changed little, in a city that has changed a lot.

Blessed

There was a pretty, late afternoon sky the other day, complete with a rainbow which seemed to hover over the tower of St Paul's Church. The congregation must being doing something right to be so blessed!

Bleached

I seem to be noticing these pampas grass plants everywhere just lately and I've decided I like them. Or, at least, that they make an interesting photo. I like the juxtaposition of the textures and shapes of the feathery fronds, the wood fence and the metal work here.

I am following some tutorials on the internet by Kim Klassen and learning how to use pre-sets and textures, so here I have applied one of her pre-sets, just to try it. I decided I quite liked the bleached effect. The tutorials are helpful, though being deaf I can't always hear the voice-over on the videos so I am only getting half the learning I could do. Sigh, that's life....

Exhausting

I spent some time looking after my youngest granddaughter at the weekend. It's amazing to see how much she has progressed in the four weeks since I last posted a photo of her (here). She had just learned to walk back in January and was still a little unsteady on her feet. In just a month she's become a confident and competent toddler, lovely to see. She did so much running around that she fell asleep in the car on the way home.

We went again to Eureka, the children's museum, as there is always something to explore there. We both had our hands stamped with a little cartoon cat, to indicate we'd paid entry. You can maybe see the smudge on the back of her hand. She was delighted with the picture and every few minutes she would stop, look at it, point to her hand and then to my hand and sign the sign for "cat" (hands to sides of mouth and pull outwards to indicate whiskers). So sweet. I love that although she doesn't really say proper words yet you can often understand what she wants or is paying attention to, as she is able to sign. She has been learning to sign at Tiny Talk baby signing classes.

The joy of commuting!

Since Christmas until very recently, I have been working from home, as my workplace was badly flooded on Boxing Day and has yet to reopen. Working from home has many positives. I am used to it anyway as for many years I worked freelance. I already have a comfortable, well equipped office in my home so I have not been trying to work from the kitchen table like some of my workmates. It's quiet and I can really crack on without any interruptions but on the downside, sometimes it's nice to be interrupted and I have missed seeing my colleagues and enjoying the usual banter of an office environment.  A once-a-week meeting hardly compensates for the lack of stimulation and the absence of people to toss ideas around with. However, it has worked fine for me. We are now being temporarily rehoused in an office near the city centre, giving me a hour's bus commute morning and night.  I usually have a short, pleasant walk to my usual office - and walking upstairs to work has been even nicer, especially when the sun shines!

Teasel

Up the hill at the top end of Rodley reserve, there is a small area of woodland known as 'the manager's garden'. There's a hide up there and an array of bird feeders so it's a good place to observe the smaller birds - I saw chaffinches, goldfinches, a variety of members of the tit family, sparrows, robins, blackbirds, thrushes and even a woodpecker. There was also a little brown rat darting out and picking up the seeds that had dropped on the ground.  The floods did not reach this part of the reserve and there were plenty of the distinctive, spiky seedheads of teasel left. Goldfinches love them.

Mud, muck and spring greens

Some of the hawthorn in the hedgerows is bursting out in green leaves already... rather too early. I wonder what effect it will have for the rest of the year? Spring will either be a very long season or will be over in a flash and all too soon, before I have really been able to appreciate it!

Despite the signs of spring, underfoot the paths are just claggy mud. The farmer was hard at work muck-spreading - a messy and very 'fragrant' task. But even the tractor was finding the mud a bit difficult to navigate.

Looking up

Such a glorious blue sky, so welcome after the long months of rain and grey cloud. The new shoots on the willows are a wonderful soft apricot colour, a pretty contrast against the blue. There are planes constantly flying over this part of Leeds on the flight path to the local airport. Spot the little contrail?

Of course, white blossom always looks gorgeous against blue sky too. There can't be many of us photographers who haven't snapped a few pictures like this:

Since I took these, we've gone back to grey skies, rain and wind. :(

Winter white and spring white

You might expect to see snowdrops sometime in February and there were some pretty clusters around Rodley reserve. We would not expect to see blossom quite yet - but there is plenty of that too. At first I thought it was blackthorn but I couldn't see any thorns so I now think it was probably prunus cerasifera, a type of cherry plum with five-petalled flowers that is one of the first to bloom in spring. Blossom is always so pretty against a blue sky. I can't believe there are many insects about yet to pollinate the flowers, so that might have an impact later in the year.

The low building in the photo is the nature reserve's shop and café, a delightful spot to rest after walking and bird-watching. It is run by volunteers and serves excellent tea (and no doubt good coffee too, though I didn't try that) and wonderful home-made cakes. It also sells a good selection of bird feeders, seed and fat-balls - all much cheaper than the equivalent in garden centres.

Swan lake

There were more birds around than it appears. I discovered many years ago that often you think there is very little there but then, quietly sitting in a hide, you begin to 'get your eye in' and uncover many more species. Nature reserves usually have a chalkboard somewhere where people list what they have spotted, which can help you to know where to look. It seems that at Rodley there has been a bittern in the reedbeds but I didn't hear it - and they are secretive birds, notoriously difficult to see. Geese, ducks and swans are much more obvious and I still love watching the graceful mute swans.